NATO bolsters Russian deterrence

NATO leaders are set to give the formal go-ahead to the greatest reinforcement of collective alliance defence since the end of the Cold War, including deployment of four combat battalions of 1,000 troops each to Poland and the three Baltic states

BATALLIONS: Four new units, deployed on rotating basis. Backed up by Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) “Spearhead” of around 5,000 troops ready to move within 48 hours

NATO Response Force (NRF): Around 40,000 troops to follow Spearhead unit

Suwalki Gap: Sandwiched between Russia’s highly militarized Kaliningrad exclave and Kremlin’s ally Belarus, it is Achilles’ heel of NATO’s eastern flank – its capture would amputate alliance’s Baltic states and shatter NATO’s credibility 

Redzikowo: U.S. missile defence base to open 2018

NATO members
NATO command outposts

1. Lead nation: Britain
2. Canada
3. Germany
4. U.S.

RUS.
RUSSIA
BELARUS
UKRAINE
FINLAND
ESTONIA
LITHUANIA
LATVIA
POLAND
Vilnius
Minsk
Warsaw
Bydgoszcz
Riga
Baltic Sea
Tallinn
Kaliningrad

60 miles
100km

Sources: NATO, Stratfor